apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I can't give up paper towels when it comes to cleaning up feline-created messes. I just cannot fathom re-using something that had cat yuck on it, you know? I don't want to run small cat-yuck-only loads of laundry, nor do I want to save up a bunch of yucky towels or rags until I have a full load.

Also, if someone could start a recycling program in small towns in Mississippi, I'd appreciate it. kthx.

Decluttering my husband. It's hard enough reducing my own posessions! I try to keep us from expanding into a really big living space but sometimes I'm afraid we're going to burst out of our apartment and eventually will want something bigger.

I think there are some bigger questions we should be examining here:

House size (heating/cooling resources)
House location (fuel efficiency, proximity to work, stores, entertainment etc)
Vehicle (fuel efficiency)
Diet (more veggies, less meat)

Using green cleaners doesn't even come close. (and I do use them, and they do so work!)

i have a hard time using my bike or bus instead of my car to get to work. its hard to make myself get up early enough to make that feasible. but i really want to commit to doing it at least 1 day a week. a post on helpful commuter gear and where to store your bike in your apartment would be good!

I won't ride a bike. I live in Pittsburgh, and I just can't make it up my hill. It takes me 90 minutes to get home, and after 3 hours commuting (by bus), I just can't imagine riding a bike and taking any longer.

I also have a roll of cat puke only paper towels.

Geeka I'm with you. I live in Pittsburgh. I will bike for groceries, but I work outside of the city and it would take me about 3 hours to bike to work. I do carpool with my husband now that we work closer.

But I honestly can't see the point in getting rid of my current non-organic possessions just to replace them with organic ones (towels, sheets, etc). Its just more consumerism.

Paper Towels &
PARENTS not willing to budge on stupid/lazy luxuries. Grew up in common sense household (East Germany) so we hang dry our laundry in sunny S. Florida, have a solar powered water heater, and we use our own (reusable) bags for groceries, but when it comes to cleaners, recyclables, unplugging appliances, giving things away and not being a pack rat they just WON'T BUDGE! It's frustrating because the belt is tightening and they complain/worry but I feel like a broken record trying to give them tips to lower their impact on the earth.

It seems that unless the environmentally friendly option is also a gain for them they aren't interested in carbon footprints. While I agree that you shouldn't go out of your way to just save a couple bucks, I feel like a lot of it is just routine or habits that can be changed and then wouldn't require much demand after that either.

I'm in the paper-towels for cat puke club. Why just this morning...

I also still use bleach, and don't think its really that bad, there are a lot of other household cleaners I think are much much worse. You shouldnt drink it, but it does evaporate out of water

i also am a bleach head. green cleaners (homemade or otherwise) just can't get nasty dark moldy spots out of tile. it needs to kill the mold.

I agree with whytephoenix. It is easy for me to be green, but getting other people to do it effectively (without having them hate you) is so difficult.

www.swyyne.com

I'm on the driving side. I work 15 miles from my home - it takes me 20 minutes by highway, but would take me an hour by bus, and I don't have any idea how long biking would take. I'm not willing to give up an extra hour and twenty minutes a day when I work 60 hours a week as is. I do carpool two days a week and am trying to increase it to more, so there's a start, I guess.

The tap water where I live is so disgusting that even my rescued alley cat won't drink it, so I'm stuck buying water in gallon jugs. (I used to just stockpile them in case of an earthquake, but now I actually have to drink the water!) Still, I go with brands bottled in my state, and the jugs do get recycled.

Driving is tricky. My car does have very low emissions (which is an improvement over the old one), and I'd like to carpool but I have odd work hours and often have to haul things in the back seat in addition to the trunk...

All my cleaning supplies are green, but I do keep recycled-paper towels around for cat messes.

Papertowels....while I used dish towels for cleaning up most messes, there are just some things I want to dispose of.

I could ride my bike more often, thought I use mass-transit to get to work (an hour away anyway you cut it). But around town, I generally use my car (which is for sale!)

1.) Driving. I only need to fill up my tank once a month, but I could use the bus much more often.

2.) Compost. They won't let me in my building, and I just can't find another way that is not an absolute and total pain (or that would require using more resources, like driving somewhere).

3.) Baths. Not every night, but nearly, and not full, but hot. It is part of my nighttime routine. I do reuse the water though from it as much as I can.

my biggest problem is my own forgetfulness: not eating food before it goes bad, leaving laundry in the washer, etc.